Investing in Your Shopping Trolley: A Pragmatic View
The Comfort of the Familiar
I’ve always found a certain, almost absurd, comfort in the weekly shop. There’s a rhythm to it, a predictability in grabbing the same brand of toothpaste, the same washing powder, the same tin of beans. It’s a small pocket of order in a chaotic world. For years, the old investment wisdom has been to “invest in what you know”. It’s a lovely, simple idea. The theory goes that if you understand a company’s products because you use them every day, you have a unique insight.
To me, that’s always felt a bit thin. Just because I like a particular brand of biscuits doesn’t mean its parent company is a sound investment. My taste in snacks is hardly a substitute for scrutinising a balance sheet. Familiarity is a fine starting point, but on its own, it’s a flimsy foundation for a portfolio. You might as well pick stocks based on which logo you find most pleasing. What’s needed is another layer, a filter of professional rigour to separate the genuinely promising from the merely popular.